HELP - Broken wing???

[Jon]

I just picked up a beautiful young female diamond dove for my male. Apon putting her into her quarantine, I noticed something was off, her right wing was drooping! I observed her for a few minutes before picking her, but she looked perfectly fine. It appears wing only droops when she attempts to fly, and that's one thing I forgot to watch her do at the feed store. She definitely favors walking/hopping as opposed to flying. She's in a 30x18x18 flight cage, fresh seed, water, heat lamp. I put a bunch of perches in so she can choose to hop around intead of using her wings. Is there anything else I should do? I'm not sure whether it's broken or sprained, as she DID manage to fly about 3 feet with it, when she managed to jump out of my hands while I was inspecting her. Her flying was clumsy and awkward though. Anyone????

[Sally]

I think you've done about all you can do for the moment, unless you wanted to return her to the feed store. She may have just injured her wing, and heat and rest will do the trick. Was she in a too-small cage at the feed store? Birds that are kept in too-small cages for a long time will lose that ability to fly well and need time to build up muscles. Or perhaps she injured herself in the cage at the feed store, during a night fright, or just because it was a strange environment for her.

Please keep us posted on how she does.

[Jon]

She was in a VERY small cage, with 3 other diamond doves, 2 java finches, and a spice finch. The cage was maybe half the size of a 30x18x18 flight cage, I'm not sure of the exact dimensions. I believe she was only at the feed store for about two weeks, but that's probably more than enough time for something to happen in those conditions. They sell diamonds for only 10$ a piece so that's partially the reason why I picked one up from here. Otherwise, I stay clear away from their animals. This feed store is only good for one thing, and that's feed. The doves did look relatively healthy, and this girl does too, despite her wing. You should see the zebra finch cage, they're kept in a similiar sized cage, and there was probably about 20 of them crammed in there. They were all plucked.

[tinysparrow]

Poor girl! I hope that she will make a full recovery

[Jon]

She's eating and drinking and pooping normally but that's about it, she just sits by the lamp 90% of the time. Her wing still droops whenever she walks but she looks fine otherwise. Assuming her wing is injured and not broken, will she be able to fly again? I was hoping to put her in my aviary.

[Abigail]

Oh, that's too bad. Some folks just shouldn't be allowed to own animals like that...

[Nipper06]

Have you taken your dove to the vet? He should probably have an x-ray. If the wing is broken, it needs to go in a sling for a few weeks so it will set correctly.

I have a dove that flew into a window when I first got it. I took it to the vet and found out the wing was broken. So he had to wear a sling for a few weeks do it would heal properly. Gradually, he was able to fly again. But don't "test" your bird's ability to fly until after you get the wing healed properly or you might cause more injury.



A few months after healing (now he flies very well):

[Zebrafincher]

Birds can survive and do quite well with broken wings. I've had a star finch for 6 years - 5 of which he hasn't been able to fly! He broke his wing on the side of the cage, and shattered the bones, and they could not be set properly. He gets around very well, and is a very happy little bird. He's just come out of surgery for the third time (for a growth on his preening gland) and I'm picking him up tonight.,

[Jon]

If anyone was wondering, the hen is perfectly fine now.

I did end up taking her to the vet, and apparently she did have a fracture. After 2 months and lots of TLC, I released her into the aviary. She didn't attempt to fly for a week, but after that time passed, she could fly as well as any other bird with her. She stills has a drooping right wing, evident from her healed injury, but it doesn't bother her. She hooked up with my 5 year old male DD, and they now have 2 beatiful babies which fledged the other day.

[debbie276]

Wonderful news!

[Vargur]

Fantastic!